Harry Kane's England milestones: From his first cap to becoming all-time record goalscorer

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Tuchel: There are no words left to describe Kane (1:35)

Harry Kane has made plenty of history in his England career so far and seemingly has every intention of continuing to play for his country as long as he can.

If he should play a part in Tuesday's game against Czechia at Wembley, he will become England's joint record appearance holder -- matching Peter Shilton's tally of 125 caps.

Since making his debut for the national team in 2015, Kane has come a long way and has made himself an absolutely crucial player for England -- as both captain and record goalscorer.

Since then, Kane has appeared in six major tournaments for the Three Lions and has reached two finals and two semifinals with his country. He is England's talisman -- still seeking to captain the team to glory.

ESPN takes you through his biggest England milestones so far.

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First England cap

Kane's first senior England appearance came in March 2015. He was 21-years-old and within 79 seconds of coming off the bench against Lithuania, he scored.

He had been called up to the England squad for the first time following his sensational form for Tottenham across the 2014-15 season.

That goal was just the first of many. Fast forward 11 years later and Kane has scored 89 goals for England -- making him the country's all-time record scorer.

At the time, then-England head coach Roy Hodgson described Kane's goal on debut as a "fairytale."


First goal at a major tournament

After drawing a blank at Euro 2016, Kane went on to have a brilliant goalscoring campaign at the 2018 World Cup.

His first goal came in England's first group game of the tournament -- against Tunisia. It took Kane just 11 minutes into England's opening fixture to score his first goal for the country at a major tournament.

Kane actually scored twice in that match -- his second goal was a stoppage-time winner that ensured Tunisia did not snatch a shock point against the Three Lions.

Kane scored six goals at the 2018 World Cup and won the Golden Boot in doing so. England reached the semifinals of the tournament and were eliminated by Croatia, who then finished runners-up to France.


Kane becomes England captain for the first time

In 2018, Kane was named the England captain for the first time. He led the country to the semifinals of the World Cup in Russia the same year and he has served as England captain in every major tournament since.

Kane remains the England captain and has led the Three Lions to the final of the delayed Euro 2020, the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup, the final of Euro 2024 and the semifinal of the 2026 World Cup.

Kane has 87 starts as England captain -- just three behind the record held jointly by Billy Wright and Bobby Moore. Should he start four more games as captain, he will break the all-time record.


Breaking Wayne Rooney's goalscoring record

Before Kane came along, Wayne Rooney was England's all-time top scorer with 53 goals in 120 appearances. Rooney's final goal for England had come at Euro 2016, in the infamous 2-1 defeat to Iceland -- arguably England's biggest humiliation of the 21st century.

Kane was part of the Euro 2016 squad but did not score any goals at the tournament, despite scoring three goals in qualifying.

But he would go on to surpass Rooney's record. He equalled it with a penalty in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal against France and had the chance to break the record in the same match with a second spot-kick but he fired his shot over the crossbar and would have to wait until March 2023 to become England's all-time top goalscorer.

In a qualifier for Euro 2024 against Italy, Kane scored a penalty to take his goal tally to 54 and wrote his name into England's history books.

Since then, he has taken his record to a hugely impressive 89 goals -- achieved in 124 appearances.


Kane becomes England's record goalscorer at World Cups

Kane made history yet again at this summer's World Cup, when he surpassed Gary Lineker to become England's leading World Cup goalscorer.

He scored six goals at the 2026 World Cup. He broke Lineker's record when he scored against Panama in a 2-0 win for England during the group stage.

Lineker had scored 10 goals for England in World Cups. Kane's tally now stands at 14.


During his 11 years with England, Kane has broken numerous records and established himself as one of the country's all-time greats.

He has made history and is likely to keep on doing so. The only thing that is missing now is that elusive major trophy for England.

While it should not be Kane's responsibility alone to bear, winning the country's first piece of silverware since the 1966 World Cup would be the cherry on top of a remarkable international career.

Will he lead England to glory at Euro 2028? Might he even be able to play at the 2030 World Cup at the age of 36? Well, a certain Lionel Messi rather famously lifted the 2022 World Cup at 35 and almost did it again this summer at 39.

Perhaps Kane will end his England career one day after finally bringing the fans the thing they want above anything else -- a major trophy. If not, he will still go down as one of the country's best ever players and we may not see an English striker like him again for quite some time.